Bulletin  No.  13 


l)EiJAliTMEXT   OFAGRICUL/1 


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DIVISION   OF   CHEMISTRY. 


5  ■ '  Vp*  f 
FOODS 


AND 


POOD   ADULTERANTS. 


INVESTIGATIONS    MADE    ENDEU   DIRECTION   OF 

II.    \V.    WILEY, 

(  JIH ■>•   CHKMISTj 

WITH  THE  COLLABORATION  OE  K.   l\  McELROY,  W.  H.  KRl'G, 
T.  ('.  TREN  or.   W.  1  .   BIGELOW,  AND  OTHERS. 


PART     NINTH. 

Cereals  and  Cereal  Products, 


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United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 


BUREAU  OF  CHEMISTRY. 
H.  W.  Wiley,  Chief. 


A  KNIFE  FOR  KILLING  POULTRY. 


By  H.  C.  Pierce, 
Food  Research  Labors 


The  knives  in  common  use  in  bleeding  apd  braining  poultry  are 
not  suited  to  their  purpose.  The  blades  ate 
too  broad  and  too  long  and  the  curve  at  the 
point  should  be  on  the  back  instead  of  (bn  the 
cutting  edge.  The  handle  is  so  large  that  the 
killer  is  encouraged  to  use  too  much  force  in 
making  the  cut  to  bleed,  whereas  a  light  touch 
of  the  sharp  knife,  properly  directed,  is  all  that 
is  needed  to  cut  the  blood  vessels.  The  knives 
are  also  insanitary  in  that  dirt  collects  at  the 
junction  of  the  blade  and  handle. 

The  knife  which  is  to  be  used  to  bleed  and 
brain  poultry  should  be  small,  with  a  narrow 
blade;  stiff,  SO  that  it  does  not  bend:  of  the 
best  steel,  so  that  it  can  be  kept  sharp  and  is 
not  nicked  when  used  in  braining;  and  the 
handle  and  blade  should  be  in  one  piece.  Such 
a  knife,  with  the  aid  of  the  packing-house 
emery  wheel  or  grindstone  and  oil-lone,  can 
be   made   from   an  8-inch   Hat    file.      (See    fig. 

To   make   this   knife   the   handle   of    the  file 

should  first  be  ground  off.     Then  the  blade 

should    be  shaped    from    the  small    end    of   the 

file  a-  shown  in  figure  1,6.  It  should  be  2 
inches  long,  one-fourth  inch  wide,  and  one- 
eighth  inch  thick  at  the  back.  The  curve  to 
make  the  point  should  slope  from  the  back 

downward.      A  blade  of  this  -hape  reaches  the 

1>1 1  vessels  to  be  cut  more  surely  than  does 

a  blade  on  which  the  point  Curves  upward. 
After  the  blade  i-    made  the  Ildgefl   OH    the  file 

should  be  ground  down,  leaving  just  enough 
roughness  to  prevent  the  knife  slipping  in  the 

ham  I  of  the  killer.     The  length  of  the  knife,  over  a 


PIO.  1.      Knif.-  for  bV 
braining  poultry:  <».  Flh  from 
which  knlfi 


>hould  he  7  inches. 


Washington,  l>.  ('..  Juru  .v.  1910, 


i   -10 


UNIVERSITY  OF  FLORIDA 


